Calling a Do-Over: Would You If You Could?

Editor’s Note: TV isn’t the only thing this summer with repeats. This was one of the first posts I wrote when I launched this blog and it still holds true today. Thanks to Instagram, Twitter, and cell phone photos, this generation’s stupid mistakes are immortalized. Ours are etched in our minds for only as long as we hold on to them. So, would you call a do-over if you could?

I remember when correcting mistakes wasn’t as easy as tapping a couple of keys on a keyboard. Today, hitting the backspace or delete key can save the day by pulling you over before you shoot off that irate email you’ll regret later, it can create a seemingly flawless page of text, and undo that thing you just did that’s the exact opposite of what you meant to do.

If you’re a member of the Women at Forty club you remember correcting tape (vaguely?), white out, and trashcans full of crumpled paper. You remember a time when you’d have to think things over a hundred times before committing them to paper once. As a rule, we spent more time developing and preparing everything prior to putting it out there because it was hard to correct our mistakes and harder still to live with them once they’d been made.

I think the same holds true in other areas of our lives as well. Relationships, career choices, family. As we get older, we tend to make choices and decisions at a different pace. Today, women in their twenties start dating and break up in a matter of weeks, all by text message, tweets or status updates. They’re making major decisions and mistakes quicker than ever.

When it comes to mistakes, I’ve made some big ones (one was at least 6’2 ”.) And none of them, sadly, came with a backspace button or delete key. I had to live through the consequences of making every one of my bad decisions – big and small. And while it’s really Zen to say we wouldn’t change a thing about our past, given the opportunity I would gladly delete and backspace some of mine with a vengeance. 6’2″ for one, burning my eyebrows off in a tragic but comical barbeque grill lighting fiasco for another, and remind me to tell you about “The Catfish” someday. In fact, I’d much rather have learned many of my life lessons the easy way, less intent on trying to thwart the I told you so’s and more interested in paying attention to the voices of the women who’d been there, done that, and saw the likely outcome from a mile away.

I’m grateful for backspace and delete keys. God knows I use them both every day. But while even I would call a do-over on some of my stupider younger woman moves, I think that just as in writing, overusing the backspace key can stifle us, causing us to constantly edit and overanalyze ourselves – preventing us from living full, authentic lives, mistakes and all.

Would you call a do-over if you could? Share your thoughts here or on our Facebook page.